Oakland Raiders: Notes And Observations From Week Nine
By Kevin Saito
Nov 8, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; The Pittsburgh Steelers offense lines up against the Oakland Raiders defense during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Raiders fought a war of attrition in Pittsburgh this past Sunday and unfortunately, came out on the losing end of it. It was a highly entertaining game to watch, to be sure, and could be one of the league’s best games through the first half of the season, but it was a very costly loss for the Raiders on a bunch of different levels.
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Both the Steelers and the Raiders had multiple players go down with injury over the course of the game. For Pittsburgh, the biggest blow is the loss of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger once again. He’s expected to miss a few weeks with a foot injury. The Raiders though, suffered a number of injuries that, if they linger, could have a serious and detrimental impact on the team moving forward.
It was a game in which the Raiders looked like two teams – the offensive juggernaut and the defensive trainwreck. While the offense remained in high gear – as they have over the past few weeks – the defense absolutely regressed and looked beyond horrible.
While the defense hasn’t been exactly stellar this season, they had been playing some solid football over the past couple of weeks. They dismantled both the Chargers and the Jets in consecutive weeks and yet, couldn’t sustain the momentum they’d been building. Oakland’s defense was absolutely torched by the Steelers.
And though the offense did a fantastic job of keeping the team in the game by coming back time and time again, they ran out of time and chances to overcome yet another defensive collapse.
It’s a trend the Raiders will need to buck very soon if they have serious playoff aspirations. But for now, let’s take a look at some notes and observations from the week that was.
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